Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live just outside of Houston, Texas and we've been having a drought here since about March it's rained maybe 3 or 4 times, so quite a few of the swamp areas around me are dried up. I decided to go out today with my brother and explore the dried out ones while we can by foot instead of boat. So we went into a couple and on the third one we stumbled on an alligator den with at least 10 alligator hatchlings inside that I could see from about 5 feet away since there were various vines and plants blocking me from getting closer. They looked to be less than a week or two old in my opinion, probably somewhere around 6 inches long, and without any water around like it usually would be at this time of year. The closest water is the bayou which is about 500 feet away in an area that has numerous feral hogs out at night judging by the tracks on the ground. So what i'm wondering is if these alligators can't get over to the water to feed or risk getting eaten by something on the way what chance do they have for surviving?

Typically, the mother will move the hatchlings from one location to the other in her jaws to an area that she sees fit. However, if the mother is not present (which I am quite surprised she wasnt at the moment you were there, as they typically stick quite close) then in my opinion the hatchlings have much less of a chance for survival. Do you monitor this area frequently? If you come around quite often w/ no mother present, then it's a possibility she has been killed or relocated as a possible "nuisance alligator".

I am not saying to do this, but most likely if I felt that the animals would not make it, due to the lack of water, cover, and their mother, then I would probably capture them and try to relocate them into an area that they would have a greater chance of survival. If you choose to do this, BE VERY CAREFUL as IF the mother is around, then you might be in a sticky situation. I would find a location that has LOTS of cover and a reasonable amount of water. Perhaps the mother was in the process of moving them, that could be the reason why there was only around 10 hatchlings w/ no mother present.

Chris
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

This particular little swamp/oxbow (not sure what it would actually be classified as) I have never been in before today. So, i'm not sure about the mother but I can say that it definitely would not have been taken out of there as a nuisance since it is inside of a federal conservation area. I couldn't see into the den due a thick foliage problem, at best I can get about 5 feet away with restricted view, so i'm going to go over with a friend with a spotlight tomorrow and try to get a better look to see if maybe the mother is sitting inside. Typically where this den is should be under about 5 feet of water judging from the sides of the banks, but the deepest part I saw today was about 1 inch. If we don't see the mother around we will try to come back at night and maybe be able to locate it from eyeshine.

There are 3 of these swamps a couple of miles down the bayou that are now inside of a housing community and have water pumped into them so that they always stay full of water. And that is where pretty much every other alligator around is right now since the other 7 or 8 are dry. I know of about 15 alligators there that hatched back in May and are healthy and quite large now, so if I could get these down there they would do very well. The problem is that I see no way of even getting near the den unless I bring along an axe to get the fallen trees out of the way.

Hopefully, when I check back tomorrow they won't be around and have moved on without being eaten to a better location. But on a side note would feral hogs prey on a baby alligator anybody know?

Alright we got back over there this afternoon and the mother is definitely in the den and is a big one, at the minimum 8 feet long. Saw about 10 babies again, and from looking with the spotlight can see there is no water in the den that is visible. If they take a straight shot over into the bayou through the woods it is probably about 200 feet away so I would assume they would go into there to feed at night. However, there are no tracks in sight so i'm not sure the mother has been out of the den for a while. Hopefully they are fine, going to have to check it out at night sometime this week to see whats going on then.